Felting machine



Aug. 31, 1948. w. H. KINGSTON 2,448,441

' FELTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 50 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l h Aug- 1-943- w. H. KINGSTON 2,448,441

FELTING MACHINE Filed. Nov. 30, 1944 Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 31, 1948. w. H. KINGSTON 2,448,441

FELTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 50, 1944 7 5 sheets-sheet 5 Patented Aug. 31, 1948 England, assignor of one-half to William Bywater Limited, Leeds, England, a company of Great Britain Application November 30, 1944, Serial No. 565,985 In Great Britain December '1, 1943 type comprising a pair of superposed heated tables between which the felting is passed to be compressed and worked in stages by pressure of the upper table and motion which is applied to one or both of the tables. The upper table is raised for the positioning of the felting and then all-owed to bear down bodily on to the felting.

Feltin machines or felt hardeners have the felting passed in stages between the tables (which are usually heated by steam) by a carrier band, on to which the felting is laid in one or more layers from bat-ts suspended to unr-oll as required. When several superposed layers of felting are treated they may be compressed and worked as a whole into one piece or maintained separate by interposed separating sh'eets. The felting is submitted to a heat and moisture treatment, e. g., steam, prior to its passage to the tables which hardens one section and then succeeeding sections of the length of felting as it is passed in stages through the machine. Quite often only the upper table is caused to move for working the felting in one or more directions with a straight and/ or circular motion. In one construction both tables have been given a straight line motion in the direction of the length of the table but in opposite directions. To achieve this the lower table is mounted on rocking pedestals.

All the above constructions furnish a more or less smooth action on the felting and it is contended by many people that a more savage action is required to speed up the felting operation and obtain a better felt. A big advantage with a machine having both tables moving is that the felting is worked equally on both sides and with proper motions excellent results can be obtained.

According to the present invention there is provided a felting machine for treating or hardening felting between a pair of superposed tables wherein the devices for imparting motion to a table are adjustable without interchan'gemen't to provide a variety of motions which may be selected at will.

According to a feature of the invention the treating or hardening felting between a pair of flat tables, the lower of which supports the upper in operation, consisting in supporting the lower table by means of devices which are capable of affording free movement of the table horizontal- 5 Claims. (Cl. 28-14) movement, and meansfor imparting positive motion to one or both tables in a predetermined manner.

The invention may include a method of treating the felting in a hardening machine consisting in imparting a rectangular, angular or equivalent curved line motion to one or both tables. These motions may be adapted to have a so called savage action on the felting.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in which embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example only- Figs. 1 to 3 are respectively a side elevation, a plan view and an end elevation of an improved felting machine;

Figs. 4 and 5 are a sectional elevation and a plan view of a shaft adjusting device;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of an eccentric for operating one of the machine tables;

Fig. '7 is a section on the line A-A of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a cam for operating one of the machine tables;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary plan view showing a simple arrangement of operating cams;

Figs. 10 to 12 are diagrams of some .of the motions obtainable;

Fig. 13 is a part section-a1 elevation of a driven shaft with two operating cams thereon.

.In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the machine frame I is built up in a convenient manner .to carry the shafts, gearing and other parts which include four pairs of spaced horizontal brackets 2 on the sides of the frame supporting vertical driving shafts 3. These shafts are driven through other shaft 4, 5, and gearing B,- l, 8 from an electric motor (not shown) or other power source in known manner. The upper end of each driving shaft 3 is provided with a mounting 9 which affords adjustable connection for a vertical driven shaftlfl mounted thereon to be set in or out of vertical alignment with its driving shaft. In Figs. 4 and 5 this mounting 9 is shown to include a screw ll held against endwise movement with a nut l2 mounted thereon. The nut is passed up into the base l3 of the shaft l0, which case is slidable in guides l4 when the fixing bolts l5 (passed through slots IS in the base iii) are released.- The ends l'l of the screw are square for the reception of a key or other tool whereby rotation of the screw l l throws the shaft 1'.) out of vertical alignment with the shaft 3 and when. driven it will rotate in a circle of a desired radius about the axis of the latter shaft.

Apair of superposed tables l8, l9, which are heated by steam through pipe 20 (or other means), are mounted about the upper level of the machine frame. The upper table l8 normally rests on the lower table l9 and the latter is supported by four shafts 2| arranged beneath the lower table-andconstructed to allow the latter free horizontal movement in any direction accompanied by only negligible vertical movement.

For example, a known form of universal joint 22 comprising two pairs of jaws connected by a pivot member having four trunnions (a ball or equivalent joint, a ball thrust spherical bearing or the like may be used) is provided at the upper. and lower end of each shaft. 'I hev upper. table is supported by the lower when pressing upon felting '23 and both tables receive positive motion from the aforesaid driven shafts I, each of which carries a slide block, disc or the like for transmitting eccentric motions from said shafts l0-to bear-- ing members 28 and through them to the tables. The eccentric arrangement is achieved, for instance, by adjusting the shafts I0 out of centre and rotatably mounting on each shaft a right and left. hand externally screw-threaded sleeve 24 (Figs. 6 and 7) carrying a pair of square slide blocks 25 each tapered inwardly on two opposed bearing faces sothat when drawn together to a set position, by the sleeve being rotated and then locked by nut 26, they are a neat sliding fit relatively to the. double inclined guide faces 21 which form two opposite" walls of a rectangular hole 21a formed in a circular bearing member 26; As the slideblocks are square and less in size than the length of the hole 21a they are capable of sliding in relation to the member 28 parallel with the guide faces 21. Each bearing member 28 is carried by a bracket '29 fixed to the respective tables and, as the upper table requires to be slidable vertically for the insertion of and adjustment to the felt, the upper sleeves 24' are mounted to move vertically on the driven shafts l'fl. It will be seen that each shaft H] in describing a circle which is eccentric to the shafts 3, causes its slide blocks to thrust successively against the opposed double guide faces 21' which throws the bearing membersZB first in one direction and then in the opposite direction and thus the table to which its bracket is attached, is moved first in one direction and then in the opposite direction at right angles to theguide faces 21. As the slide blocks can slide longitudinally on the guide faces to afford a lost motion and each table is constrained by the provision of slide blocks on each sidethereof, the shafts l0 cannot individually impart a circular motion toa table but only in co-operation with one another. By rotating the member 28 in its bracket to a desired position and looking it, the

line; of throw is changed to a different angle by the guide faces assuming a different angular position in' relation to the table. To enable a fine adjustment, and thus an infinite variety of angles of throw, to be obtained the bearing member 28 is locked by two bolts 30 carrying small cams 3| which as the bolts are turned bear hard against the inside of the bracket 29 and furnish a firm frictional grip.

,As shown in Fig. 8 when cams are employed (those for the upper table being splined loosely) each cam 32 may be arranged within a square hole provided by locating removable pieces 33' in a rectangular hole 34 formed in a circular bearing member 28 rotatably adjustable as aforesaid in a horizontal plane in its bracket 29. As each cam will work against the. four faces of a square hole .amotion is imparted to each table, following a closed path within th ambit of a rectangle. Furthermore, as the angular position of the holes relative to the sides of a table can be changed by rotation of the members 28, two opposite sides of the rectangular motion can be parallel with any radial line struck from the axis of any of the driven'shafts I0, thusallowing the 'motions of the two tables to be different through an infinitely variable range with the driven and drivi'ng shafts in alignment. If these shafts are out ofalignment the sides of the rectangular motion will curve outwardly, as shown in Fig. 10, or inwardly, asin Fig;..11, according to which side of the axis-the driven shafts are adjusted so that the variable rangeof' motions are further increased to a considerable extent. If the loose pieces 33 are removed the cam will work only against opposite sides of the rectangular holes 34, as shown in Fig. 9.and-give movement alternately in two opposite directions which can be in a straight or curved line as aforesaid. If straight, by setting the upper table to reciprocate longitudinally (through cams 3211) at a fasterspeed than the lower table reciprocating transverselyithrough cams 321)), the resultant action between the tables shown diagrammatically in Fig. 12 would result, the upper table straight line motion being indicated by arrows [8a and lower table transverse straight line motion by arrows I9a. This could be varied inone way by making one of the strokes, say, transversely, less than the other stroke when the motion will be within a rectangle and not a square. These motions having numerous changes of direction fully cover the felting area.

A number of basic motions can be obtained with the above arrangement, e, g., straight or curved line, rectangular, circular or elliptical and these may be varied by a combination of speeds of the top and bottom tables, various stroke lengths and direction, the combination of cams with slid'e blocks together with the eccentric setting of the driven shafts so that an infinite variety of resulting motions on the felt can be obtained.

A simple form of eccentric device comprising a disc working in an opening in a bearing member 28 which would then form a strap may replace some or all of the above cams 32, 32a, and 321) or slide blocks 25 and be arranged to furnish a straight line, circular or elliptical movement by operating some or all four of the eccentric devices with some or all of the driven shafts in in or out of alignment with the driving shafts 3'. 'Moreover, one of the tables could remain stationary whilst the other is given a desired action.

In the above constructions the slide blocks or cams; are mounted on separate driven shafts ill but if so desired each shaft may be adapted to operate both the upper and lower table.. For example,.as.shown inFig. 13, each shaftl 0' is splined and long enough to carry a lower cam 32b and a slidable upper cam 32a. The remaining parts of the construction are similar tothose described aforesaid; With this arrangement the number of shafts may be diminished if desired.

The improved felting machine: may be modihad in a, variety of ways without departing from the scope of the invention and the means for raising the upper table may comprise four racks 35, operated by worm gearing 36 and pinions 31 (or other means), which bear up against the upper table as shown, or the brackets or other parts of the upper table.

My copending application Serial No. 657,288, filed March v26, 1946, now Patent No. 2,438,320,

March 23, 1948', is a division of this application.

What I claim is:

1. A felting machine comprising two substantially horizontally disposed tables one of which is superposed above the other and at least one of which is so supported as to permit limited movement thereof in every horizontal direction with no more than a negligible accompanying vertical movement and means for imparting said movement to said one table comprising a plurality of spaced apart rotatable substantially vertically disposed shafts, each shaft carrying a bearing surface which is eccentric to the axis of the shaft, means for rotating each shaft, a plurality of spaced apart bearing members secured to said one tab-1e, each bearing member comprising spaced apart, substantially parallel horizontally disposed bearing surfaces adapted to cooperate with one of said eccentric bearing surfaces as it rotates for transmitting motion to said table, each of said bearing members being soanounted as to permit rotation in a horizontal plane and means for securing each bearing member in fiXed position with respect to said one table with said parallel bearing surfaces at any angle in a horizontal plane with respect to any fixed linear element of said one table.

2. A felting machine as defined in claim 1 in which each bearing member has a rectangular opening and each rotatable shaft carries a second shaft which is eccentrically arranged with respect to the rotatable shaft and each second shaft carries a cam rotatable therewith within said opening and engaging at least two walls thereof.

3. A felting machine as defined in claim 1 in which each of the pair of tables is mounted for horizontal motion and each table carries bearing members each cooperating with an eccentrically arranged bearing surface for transmitting motion from its shaft to the table, the bearing members carried by each table cooperating with separate eccentrically arranged surfaces.

4. A felting machine as defined in claim 1 in which each bearing member is supported by a bracket carried on a table, and a locking element serves to permit adjustment of the bearing member with respect to said bracket and to secure the bearing member in adjusted position with respect to the bracket.

5. A felting machine as defined in claim 1 in which each bearing member has a rectangular opening at least two opposite walls of which are provided with removable make up pieces for altering one dimension of said opening, and each bearing surface is carried by a second shaft which is carried by and eccentrically arranged with respect to one of said rotatable shafts.

WILLIAM HENRY KINGSTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,704,418 Abbott Mar. 5, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,887 Great Britain Nov. 18, 1864 3,687 Great Britain Mar. 8, 1915 58,794 Germany Feb. 14, 1891 72,026 France June 22, 1866 110,882 Australia June 20, 1940 419,230 Germany Sept. 24, 1925 456,910 Germany Mar. 5, 1928 

